


Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [17]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, It's time to face the elephant in the room, SO MUCH SADNESS, so many tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 07:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18279017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Maria is finally struck by the truth. She doesn't look twenty anymore. But Carol still does...





	Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I was dreading writing this particular story and for good reason, but it was one of the first I had put on my list, and there was only so many times I could push it back. It is time for "Carol doesn't age". In all seriousness, it's the first time I almost cried writing a story, so you better be prepared. Just a heads up.  
> Good news is I had a burst of ideas this morning, a lot of fun stories about Carol interacting with the Avengers, and starting Monday I will post stories of Carol with the Avengers, sometimes as part of the movies and sometimes not. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to rewatch Avengers again, so I can find the little gap where Carol can fit!

It was on the eve of her 40th birthday that Maria finally accepted the truth: she was aging. She had more wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and lips and on her forehead. She was keeping in shape because her job required her to, but even then, she didn't have as much stamina as she used to. She counted her blessings that she didn't have gray hair yet, key word being yet. She looked at herself in the mirror with a focused frown on her face, before she forced herself to smooth her features as if it would help make all the worrying lines on her face disappear.

  
Carol passed behind her to pick up a headband. Their eyes met in the mirror.

  
"Everything okay?" she asked, as she could clearly read the worry in her girlfriend's eyes.

  
"It's nothing, just... I didn't remember looking so old yesterday."

  
Carol smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek.

  
"You're not old, you're beautiful."

  
She walked away lightly, and Maria wanted to believe her so bad. She wanted to believe that Carol was right and that she was still just as young and beautiful as she'd been when they'd first met, or first fallen in love. But that was the thing. She wasn't. Carol, however, still was.

  
Carol had blown her forty candles just a few months ago. Carol, who still didn't have a wrinkle on her perfect face. Carol, who could fly around the world three times and still be home for dinner like it was nothing. Carol, who hadn't aged since the accident. It wasn't her imagination anymore. It wasn't just her still imagining them in their twenties, having fun at Pancho's. It was real.

* * *

  
  
Maria was preparing lunch for herself when the phone rang. Carol was at work for the day, but she'd promised to return home in a flash so they could celebrate her birthday. She had already prepared her breakfast before leaving in the morning, which Maria had found so sweet. Truth was, she didn't really want to celebrate her birthday. She wanted to do the childish thing, for once, and pretend she was twenty again. But she couldn't avoid the truth forever.

  
She cleaned her hand on a nearby dishrag and picked up the phone.

  
"Hello?"

  
"Happy birthday, mom!" Monica shouted on the other side of the phone.

  
Maria smiled.

  
"Thank you. Are you at the airport yet?"

  
"Actually, Carol convinced me to let you two celebrate alone tonight. I'm taking the plane early tomorrow morning, I should be home by nine."

  
"Oh," Maria replied, not able to hide her disappointment.

  
"Well, it's supposed to be a surprise," Monica added. "She didn't give me the details and frankly I really don't want to know. I'll just crash on the couch tomorrow if I arrive and you two are still in bed."

  
Maria wasn't really excited about the idea of a surprise birthday party with Carol. She was excited to see her daughter again, even if it was just for the weekend, and it almost made her birthday easier to swallow.

  
"Everything okay, mom?" Monica asked, after not hearing from her mother for a good minute.

  
"Yeah, it's just... I just realized that I wasn't as young as I thought."

  
"What are you talking about? You're still young!" Monica declared. "Are you having some sort of middle-life crisis? Cause I heard some friends talking about their parents having middle-life crises. Some of them suddenly decided they were gay and filled for divorce. Are you suddenly going to decide that you're straight or something?"

  
Maria chuckled.

  
"No, it's not a middle-life crisis, don't worry. I just miss you."

  
"Aww. I'll be there tomorrow morning, promise."

  
"Okay. Be careful! And if you want us to pick you up at the airport just call. I'll send Carol over."

  
"I'll keep that in mind. Bye, mom! Happy birthday!"

  
"Bye, honey. I love you."

  
"Love you too."

  
Monica hung up, and Maria placed the phone back on its stand with a sigh. Now that she knew Carol had prepared something, she was nervous, afraid of what the blonde had in store for her. She supposed all she had to do was wait.

* * *

  
  
In the middle of the afternoon, her mother called her and invited her over for some cake. Maria really was in no position to decline, so she drove there. Her mother kept her for three hours, as she had apparently stumbled upon the old photo albums of when she was younger, and they cycled through every single one of them. The sun was already lighting the sky on fire when she came back and found the house drowned in darkness, with only the orange sky illuminating the garden.

  
She doubted Carol would already be back. Good, she thought, as she needed some time to think. Seeing all of these pictures of herself hadn't helped her at all. One the contrary, she felt even older now.

  
She unlocked the door and threw her purse on the nearest surface available, before taking her jacket off. Then, she turned on the light of the dining room and noticed something strange. The doors leading to the kitchen were closed, and a light was flickering on the other side of the windows. She pulled them open, and her breath caught in her throat.

  
Carol was standing in the middle of the kitchen with a grin on her lips. The table was set on the small table there, with two little candles in the middle. A 'Happy Birthday' streamer was hanging from the ceiling. Carol was standing there in a pale blue sundress – when was the last time she had seen her wear a sundress, let alone a dress? - with a bouquet of red carnations, gardenias, and daffodils.

  
"Surprise!" Carol said. "I hum... didn't have time to prepare everything but if you give me two minutes I can get the food out of the containers and we can pretend I cooked something for real?"

  
Maria felt tears welling up in her eyes. What had she ever done to deserve someone like Carol? Her sigh turned into a sob as she failed to brush her tears away. Carol's smile fell slowly as she tried to understand what was going on.

  
"Those are not tears of joy, are they?"

  
Maria shook her head. She didn't want Carol to believe her surprise wasn't appreciated. It was. She found it so stupidly sweet it made her want to smile, but everything that she'd been thinking about came so suddenly rushing to the front of her mind that it made her dizzy.

  
"Hey, Maria..."

  
In an instant, Carol was beside her, supporting her and leading her to the living room. She could feel Carol's hand rubbing slow circles on her back. She leaned against her.

  
"I'm so sorry," she mumbled with a watery voice.

  
She felt awful for ruining Carol's surprise.

  
"Shh... It's okay. Just, tell me what's going on."

  
They sat down on the couch, facing each other, and Maria brushed her tears with the back of her hand.

  
"Haven't you noticed?" she asked.

  
Carol must have noticed, or if she hadn't, it was because she really didn't want to. But Carol shook her head, worry written all over her features.

  
"Haven't you seen yourself in a mirror?"

  
Maria sighed.

  
"You haven't aged Carol. Not a day since the incident. And I didn't notice it before but now... I'm getting old, and you're not. And I don't want to think about everything that it could mean, I really don't want to, but I couldn't stop thinking about it today..."

  
Maria looked at Carol, waiting for her to say something. To be her usual Carol and just laugh her worry away, and tell her that it didn't matter, that it didn't change anything. Carol's features darkened. Her eyes fell from Maria's face to their hands, desperately holding onto each other.

  
"I noticed..." she replied.

  
Maria heard how closed-off her voice sounded as if she was on the verge of crying as well.

  
"I didn't want to think about it, but I noticed. And I don't know why, I don't know what it is, if it's my Kree blood, if it's my powers, I just... I don't know why... And it terrifies me..."

  
She still didn't want to look at Maria's face, but Maria could see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

  
"Every time I think about it, I feel so guilty... Like I betrayed you. We promised we would grow old together but I can't grow old at all and I don't know why! And then I keep imagining what will happen when you die, and when Monica die, and then I'll be stuck alone and maybe I'll never grow old and I'll never be able to get back to you and it's just... it's tearing me apart!"

  
They stayed perfectly silent for a long minute. Maria had stopped crying, and she watched as Carol tried to get a hold of herself, but each of her shallow breaths was punctuated by a sob. Her strong shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. Finally, very slowly, Maria moved her hands out of Carol's and placed them around her girlfriend. She brought her closer and hugged her. Carol's forehead fell against her shoulder as she broke down fully, her arms wrapping around Maria as well.

  
They stayed like that for a long time, Maria holding onto Carol as she tried and failed to stop the tears from falling. When she finally managed to get her nerves under control, Carol straightened slightly, looking more fully at Maria. Her eyes were bright red, and her nose was barely any better. Long streaks of tears shone on her cheeks.

  
"I'm sorry, I'm ruining your birthday..."

  
Maria chuckled and took Carol's face in her hands, brushing away the traces of her tears with her thumb.

  
"I ruined it first, it's okay."

  
Carol looked at her with sad eyes, like Maria had never seen before.

  
"What are we going to do?" she asked.

  
"I don't know."

  
"Can we brush it aside and not talk about it for another decade or two?" Carol suggested.

  
"I don't think it's going to work. We're going to have to talk about eventually."

  
Carol bit her lower lip.

  
"I don't want to let you go, not without me anyway."

  
Maria thought longly.

  
"Maybe we can ask someone at SHIELD?"

  
"And if that doesn't work?"

  
"Then we'll have to talk about it again."

  
Carol sighed.

  
"I don't care how old you look. I'll be with you until the end, you hear me?"

  
Maria nodded, a smile once again spreading on her lips.

  
"We already look fourteen years apart, and it's only going to get worst from here."

  
"I don't care. You're stuck with me forever."

  
Maria brought Carol's face to hers, kissing her before she could make another stupid promise she might never be able to keep.

  
"Now, I believe I was promised a surprise birthday party?" she said.

  
Carol brushed off the last reminder of her tears once again and smiled. She stood up, holding out her hand for Maria, who took it with a smile of her own.

  
"I stopped by your favorite place to pick up dinner, and I was going to try and pretend like I was the one who made it," she confessed.

  
"Like that was ever going to work," Maria replied.

  
"I'll never stop trying."

  
"I know."


End file.
